✔ NOVEMBER – The Ultimate CES 2020 Prep list

November 25, 2019
Ronjini Joshua
CES, Media Relations, Public Relations, Startups, tradeshows

CES 2020 is coming hard and fast and before you know it, you’ll be scrambling before the end of the year to prep for the best timed trade show ever (only kidding). Thanksgiving is already next week after all. As we are posting this, I realize it probably should have been posted weeks ago, but we’ll let it slide and get things moving. If you’re exhibiting/attending/launching at CES 2020, make sure you review this CES Prep Checklist. There’s still time to get things ready to be the best CES yet.

Also to note, this is the start of our CES blog series, which will be a supplemental blog posted through CES to get you ready for having the best CES yet. Watch the blog and make sure you are following along to get the best PR tips possible.

We’ve created a month by month breakdown of what you should be crossing off of your checklist to ensure a smooth and successful show.

November – Trade Show Prep Month
While we may be slightly too far out to shift into full beast mode for CES, there are definitely some areas where you want focus. Assuming that you’ve already managed any booth presence at the show (because by this time you’d have to do something turnkey rather than custom), check out the list below for things you still have time to accomplish in the week ahead.

Outline your CES Strategy – focus on what you want your outcomes to be at the show from a business, media and marketing perspective.
Finalize your announcements and strategy at the show – It’s definitely not too soon to plan your announcements and/or determine if you’ll have any great partner or product news to announce.
Submit awards – We’ll be posting the list of awards that you should be considering soon and start prepping those submissions. What will you submit?
Account for Marketing Swag or last-minute ordering – Have you ordered your swag yet? With the holidays approaching suspect slow delivery times. If you’re more progressive, it may be a good idea to ship directly to the venue, make sure you’re factoring in weight and your own personal load. Select items that are useful and memorable.
Begin appointment outreach and scheduling via email, linkedin and mapmyshow – Have you logged in to MapMyShow? It’s a very useful tool. Make sure you upload all your information and you can even use it for easy scheduling. Have someone on your internal team manage the schedule through the portal, it will make your life so much easier.
Determine your spokespeople – Who is speaking about what in your organization. You’ll want to decide who is the go to for:
– Product demos
– Media interviews
– Partner conversations
Develop your messaging documents – You’ll also want to make sure everyone (sales, marketing, biz dev) are all on the same page and know what to say. Our recommendation is to hold a messaging kickoff at the beginning of December just to discuss your presence at CES early. With the holidays approaching this activity may go overlooked.
Confirm booth staffing – Have you determined how you are going to staff your booth? How many people do you need? Who is handling what and don’t forget to create a schedule. One of the biggest mis-steps at a big show like CES is having a big booth with no staff in sight, even if it is lunch time. Staggered schedules can help with this.